Navigation

My Writing Process Blog Tour

I was invited along on a blog tour
ride by my writer friend Mari Collier, who was raised in Iowa and yet isn’t
dull at all. Thanks for the extra work, Mari – sheesh. But anyone who writes
SF, historical fiction, and humor is
worth the effort. She now lives in California, yet isn’t strange at all.

Unfortunately, due to finalizing
the details on The No-Campfire Girls
and life in general, I haven’t had the time to get this out, and today I
realized I hadn’t recruited anyone to follow it. Instead, I picked a few blogs
from among writer friends and highlighted them at the end of this, but I didn’t
find anyone to answer the questions themselves, and I hope some of you will take
up the reins and continue this on.

1.What
Am I Working On?

A
sandwich, at the moment. Oh, you mean writing? We’re finishing the setup for my
second self-published effort, The
No-Campfire Girls, a YA humor/adventure set in a girl’s summer camp. Why
self-published? Because a portion of the proceeds from the book’s sale will go
toward Camp Latonka, the Girl’s Scout camp my wife attended and then worked at.

I’m
waiting to see the cover art of The
Notorious Ian Grant, which Whiskey Creek Press is publishing in October.
Meanwhile, I’m plugging away at a book of my columns and Beowulf: In Harm’s Way, a SF story that pokes a little fun at the
space opera genre. I have a million ideas in a dozen genres, all in varying
degrees of development, and just need more time.

2.How
Does My Work Differ From Others of Its Genre?

Which
genre? Well, I tend to inject more humor into my works—the world needs more
humor—but not in a mocking or parody way. I take my situations lightly, and my
characters seriously. It’s as if Isaac Asimov and Douglas Adams had a baby, and
… who knows? I never pried into their personal lives.

3.Why Do
I Write What I Do?

Why
not? But basically I write what I like to read, which is how it should be with
all writers. I love science fiction, and I like a good romance that’s infused
with humor, and I’m always up for some intelligent action, if you can picture
that.

4.How
Does My Writing Process Work?

I
start by thinking, which is far too lacking in today’s society. What if? What
then? Routine chores are a perfect time for that: Mowing the lawn, showering,
home maintenance, first aid after home maintenance … that’s where I work out
the ideas in my head.

Then
I do an outline; I have a whole box full of unfinished manuscripts to show I’ll
never be a successful pantser. By the way, when I was a kid “pantser” meant a
whole different thing. My outlines are devoid of Roman numerals, and full of
side notes, parenthesis (I’m famous for my parenthesis), and the occasional
exclamation point as an idea hits me. It’s just a scribbled narrative, really,
and subject to change at any time—I just need a road map with a destination,
and nothing keeps me from exploring a side road as long as the destination is
in mind.

Beside
that are detailed character outlines, and often other research material. I know
what my characters want, need, what they’re afraid of, what they like for
lunch, their hobbies, political outlooks or lack thereof—and although many of
those details never make it to the story, they makes the characters real for
me. Which is why they often go running off onto those side roads I mentioned,
surprising me as much as the reader.

Then
I write. That’s the fun part. Give me a place to sit and enough room to break
out my laptop, and there’s my office. Except the bathtub—there are logistical
problems to writing in the bathtub.

And,
although I go back and read through the previous day’s work at every writing
session, my stories are always in for five or six polishings before anyone else
sees them, because that’s how I roll. And if you’ve ever tried to roll while
revising, you know it’s a challenge.

Here are a
few other blogs from friends of mine, more or less at random but chosen from
Blogspot because I’m lazy:

Rosanne
Dingli is a writer of rich writing who also writes about writing, right?

Say it three times fast … take a chance.

Yes,
I cheated on this assignment to a degree, but I just finished proofreading my
new book proof and now I’m sending off for another proof to prove I’m ready to
publish. As you can probably tell by the last couple of paragraphs, I’m also
very tired.

I'll admit I have a skewed way of looking at the world, but really my life is quite dull. Work is something ingrained into a person from Iowa, which is why I like to see others work. I'll have to check out the other bloggers. You're wise to write what you like to read.

Mark, you made some good choices--I don't know Kelly, but I'm familiar with Rosanne, who's an exceptionally talented author, and William's my partner in crime, so I'm more than acquainted with his wicked sense of humor!